The present invention relates to a measurement device for assessing knee movement, for example, prior to or after a knee surgery or a knee replacement.
Knee-related injuries are one of the most common injuries in sports. Many knee injuries result in a ruptured or torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), one of the four major ligaments of the knee. Injury to the ACL is often remedied by reconstructive surgery, followed by several months of physical therapy and rehabilitation. One of the biggest factors that determines whether a patient achieves full recovery is adherence to physical therapy schedules and rehabilitation exercises. Many of these exercises focus on restoring the range-of-motion of the knee. So, such exercises require constant measurement of the range-of-motion of the knee and monitoring of progress made during rehabilitation.
Although there are some complicated devices that exist in the art for measuring the range of motion of a knee, such as goniometers, most are complex mechanical or electromechanical devices that can only be used in a clinical setting with the assistance of a therapist.
Thus, in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0000369 (which is incorporated herein by reference), a measurement device is described that generally comprises: an elongated base member; a moveable (or sliding) member configured for movement along and relative to the elongated base member; and indicia on an upper surface of the elongated base member to reflect the relative position of the moveable member with respect to the elongated base member.
As described in in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2016/0000369, the moveable member is configured for movement along and relative to the elongated base member. To measure knee flexion, a patient sits down and positions his or her leg on the measurement device in a starting position with the heel of the patient's foot positioned on the elongated base member. The patient begins bending his or her knee, such that the foot slides along the upper surface of the elongated base member. The moveable member is either pushed back by the foot as it slides along the upper surface of the elongated base member, or the moveable member is manually slid along the upper surface of the elongated base member as the patient bends his or her knee. Based on the indicia on the upper surface of the elongated base member, the patient is provided with a ready visual indication of how far the knee can be bent.